THE "PORK" IN NEW YORK, Thoughts of an older American on Constitutional Government in the USA Options

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Exclusive - Senior Spitzer aide Darren Dopp is target of Ethics probe"

By JOE MAHONEY, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

Wednesday, September 12th 2007, 4:00 AM

ALBANY - Darren Dopp, the senior aide Gov. Spitzer put back on the state payroll after a month's suspension for Troopergate, is a target of the State Ethics Commission probe of the dirty tricks plot.

Dopp has been sent an Ethics Commission letter giving him 15 days to provide a written explanation in response to suspicions he may have violated state law as Spitzer's communications director, according to his lawyer, Terence Kindlon, and a source close to the probe.

Dopp was served with a commission subpoena Monday, directing him to turn over a raft of e-mails and other documents relating to a conspiracy to generate a news story smearing Senate GOP leader Joe Bruno, Kindlon said.

Spitzer chief of staff Richard Baum, who was informed of the scheme through e-mails, also has gotten a subpoena "along with a number of other people," a source said.

Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson said she could not comment on the ongoing probe.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/09/12...is_targe-2.html

THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Spitzer Aides Won’t Fight Subpoenas"

By DANNY HAKIM

Published: September 14, 2007

ALBANY, Sept. 13 — Private lawyers for two top aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer said on Thursday that they would not fight subpoenas issued by the State Ethics Commission earlier this week.

Terence L. Kindlon, a lawyer for Darren Dopp, the governor’s communications director, said his client told him to abandon his plan to fight a subpoena and instead cooperate with the commission.

And Steven F. Reich, a lawyer for Richard Baum, the secretary to the governor, also said his client would not fight the subpoena issued to him.

Christine Anderson, the governor’s press secretary, said: “We did a diligent search and turned over what was in our custody and control."

"If chamber employees were using their personal e-mails for governmental purposes relating to this issue, we believe they should turn those e-mails over to the commission.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/nyregion...amp;oref=slogin

"Top Spitzer aide will testify - Darren Dopp's attorney says he considers subpoena from former commission valid"

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, October 9, 2007

ALBANY -- A top aide to Gov. Eliot Spitzer still plans to appear before the newly formed Public Integrity Commission, even though he was subpoenaed by the group's predecessor, the state Ethics Commission.

Spitzer's communications director, Darren Dopp, was among several Spitzer aides who were subpoenaed earlier this year by the Ethics Commission in the Troopergate affair. Dopp's attorney, Terrence Kindlon, said he considers the subpoenas valid.

"We received it from the Ethics Commission, and we are electing to treat it as if it's still valid, even if it (the Ethics Commission) still no longer exists," Kindlon said.

Asked if the administration planned to honor the previous subpoenas, Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson said she was unaware of any subpoenas from the now-defunct commission.

The probe centers on whether members of the governor's inner circle did anything wrong by having State Police create from memory itineraries of Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno when he traveled to New York City using a state helicopter and State Police drivers.

Investigations by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Albany County District Attorney David Soares found no illegalities, but Cuomo concluded Spitzer's aides shouldn't have involved State Police in a political matter.

Bruno has faulted those probes because they didn't rely on subpoenas.

The Republican-controlled Senate Investigations Committee is conducting its own probe of the Democratic governor and issued subpoenas last week.

Spitzer's office said it will contest them in court.

The state Ethics Commission started an inquiry of its own, but the panel ceased to exist last month under legislation that merged its functions and those of the state Lobbying Commission into the new Public Integrity Commission.

The new commission has just started operations, although staff from both former agencies were merged and have continued to investigate cases.

Dopp, meanwhile, was said Monday to be leaving state government for a job with a lobbying firm.

Gannett News Service reported he is expected to take a job with Patricia Lynch Associates, one of the top firms in Albany, founded by a former aide to Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

"Darren has devoted his life to public service and has always been a strong believer in the government's ability to do good," Anderson said.

"We wish him well in his next endeavor."

Kindlon has said that his client, who was suspended without pay for 30 days after Cuomo's report in July, did nothing wrong.

Dopp earlier said that State Police have long kept travel records for Bruno when the Brunswick Republican flew to New York City on state helicopters, even under former Republican Gov. George Pataki.

On Sunday, the Times Union published some of those itineraries kept during the Pataki administration.

Rick Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Lack of rain causes canal to close early - Erie Canal originally scheduled to shut down Nov. 15"

By CATHY WOODRUFF, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 2:38 p.m., Monday, October 8, 2007

ALBANY -- The state canal system will shut down two weeks early for recreational boats and one week ahead of schedule for commercial traffic, the state Canal Corporation announced today.

Canal officials said the move is necessary because a persistent shortage of rainfall along the Mohawk Valley and in western New York has reduced the amount of water available to maintain sufficient navigational depth in some sections.

The projected closing date for recreational traffic now is Nov. 1, a Thursday, and the closing date for commercial traffic is Nov. 7, also a Thursday.

Previously, the canals had been scheduled to shut down to all traffic on Nov. 15.

Canal officials said the dates could be modified if additional rainfall does occur and replenish water supplies in the southern Adirondacks and other feeder areas.

During the past three months, precipitation in the Mohawk Valley has been more than 12 inches below normal, according to the Canal Corp.

Last month, the Canal Corporation enacted hourly lockings on the Erie Canal for recreational vessels from Lock 20 in Marcy to Lock 7 in Niskayuna in an effort to help conserve water.

More recently, the corporation discontinued diversion of water from Hinckley Reservoir for navigation purposes and began drawing water from other sources in order to maintain navigation.

Those sources include Kayuta Lake in Oneida County and South Lake, North Lake, Sand Lake and Woodhull Lake Reservoirs in Herkimer County.

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

Posted by Roger Murdock | October 8, 2007 6:09 PM: Utopia is nice, but we all live here.

You can either bitch about it, or take action try to do something.

Too many people choose the former, as this blog clearly indicates.

Nothing personal, but a lot of energy is spent with fingers on keyboards talking among ourselves.

JOHN GALT SCOFFS RIGHT OUT LOUD IN HERE AT THAT: Yeah, right, Roger Murdock ...

"More defendants take law into their own hands" by Michelle Morgan Bolton, staff writer, Albany Times Union, published Sunday, February 8, 2004:

Poestenkill resident Paul Plante apparently hasn't needed the full or partial services of a lawyer during the seven civil cases he has successfully won over the past 15 years in state Supreme and federal court.

Plante, a former Rensselaer County engineer, has taken it upon himself to reverse the illegal permitting of local gravel mining and waste hauling facilities and the alleged backroom commercial rezoning of his rural community.

He has gone up against town planning and zoning boards; Rensselaer County government; Waste Management; Showers Enterprises and R.J. Valente Gravel, Inc.; the state Department of Environmental Conservation; and the Attorney General's office, among others.

The 59-year-old disabled Vietnam veteran is also a vocal activist, who is trying to prove federal court that county social services, veterans and Samaritan Hospital officials tried to forcibly commit him to a mental health facility in 2001.

"THE LAW IS FAR TOO PRECIOUS A THING TO BE LEFT IN THE HANDS OF LAWYERS," said Plante, who has been called every name in the book.

"I did an Abe Lincoln."

"If he could stretch out on the dirt floor and learn the law, so could I."

Cognizant of the old adage that says those who represent themselves have a fool for a client, Plante confided:

"I'D RATHER HAVE A FOOL FOR A CLIENT THAN A FOOL FOR A LAWYER."

end quotes

And so, Roger Murdock ....

Talk to us upstate countryfolks about UTOPIA, and doing nothing but coming in here to whine and complain ...

At the time that article was written, Plante was in fact trying to GET BEFORE A JURY in federal court AFTER county social services, veterans and Samaritan Hospital officials tried to forcibly commit him to a mental health facility in 2001 ...

And you know what, Roger Murdock?

PLANTE NEVER EVEN SAW THE INSIDE OF A COURTROOM IN THAT ENDEAVOR ...

HE NEVER EVEN GOT TO SEE A JUDGE!

HE NEVER EVEN GOT AN OPPORTUNITY AT A SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE, DESPITE FEDERAL RULES MANDATING ONE, dude ...

And it never was a question of proof!

Eliot Spitzer's office admitted that Plante had been incarcerated ...

Rensselaer County Court Judge Patrick McGrath reviewed the exact same evidence that Eliot Spitzer had in the matter, including a graphic videotape of Plante being assaulted on Liberty Lane in the Town of Poestenkill in August of 2001 by a politically-connected THUG who had Spitzer's ARM AROUND HIM ...

And Judge McGrath made a written report, as the law requires him to do when confronted with evidence of the commission of crimes ...

AND DESPITE THAT, ELIOT SPITZER SIMPLY GOT THE MATTER BURIED, Roger Murdock ...

BURIED!

Eliot Spitzer condoned the crimes, Roger Murdock ...

Because condoning the crimes and burying this case enhanced Eliot Spitzer's political standing here in NYS with the NYS Business Council, to whom he is now beholden ...

Along with being beholden to real estate interests ...

And so ...

Like Rich McNally in Rensselaer County who is now running for Rensselaer County DA on the Working Families Party line, Eliot Spitzer is a "MADE MAN", Roger Murdock ...

By burying Plante, Spitzer "MADE HIS BONES" as a corrupt politician in NYS .....

And dude, by your own admissions in here, YOU wanted to be a member of Spitzer's team ....

And so, Roger Murdock ...

And so ...

Remember that old song by Pete Seeger, "Which Side Are You On?"

We up here know the answer to that, ourselves ...

We were with Plante, Roger Murdock ...

WE were against the CORRUPTION ...

So I guess you have some pondering to do, dude, as to where you might stand with respect to all of this well-documented NYS history ...

But that's alright ....

It's good for the soul, Roger ...

And it can also build character ...

And character is never a bad thing to have ...

Well ...

Okay ...

Unless you are going into public office here in NYS as a part of the "SPITZER TEAM" ....

And then it is a detriment ...

But outside of that, dude ...

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | October 9, 2007 7:44 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...d_2.html?page=2

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

And here you are missing several points, Roger Murdock ....

Plante ultimately beat McNally in Rensselaer County Criminal Court, despite the fact that McNally was a lawyer, and had FRAMED Plante up the wazoo, BECAUSE Plante knew the law better than McNally did, and was finally able to get before a judge who actually did respect and uphold the law ....

As a lawyer, McNally knew how to suborn perjury and such other tactical chicanery as lawyers practice ....

BUT PLANTE BEAT HIM, Roger Murdock ...

Without a lawyer ...

And by doing so, Plante earned the enmity of the lawyer's guild itself, of which you are a member if you are practicing in court every day as an attorney ...

For it is not good for the lawyer's guild to be seen as beatable by an ordinary American without HUGE financial resources to back him up ...

AND IT IS BAD FOR LAWYER'S BUSINESS, Roger Murdock, when an ordinary American citizen without resources like Plante was able to prove in public that in NYS, the RIGHT TO PETITION FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVANCE should not be for sale to the HIGHEST BIDDERS only ...

So the lawyer's guild moved to retaliate against Plante .....

CLOSE THE COURTS!

DO NOT LET HIM IN!

And so it was done, Roger Murdock!

Just like that!

The lawyer's guild does own the courts in the State of New York, after all, and their extortion SHALL be paid, if one is to have a hope for justice in the state at all ....

And those who cannot pay the lawyer's extortion get nothing ...

THAT, Roger Murdock, IS the American WAY ...

And Plante beat the State Attorney General several times running, Roger Murdock, including at the appellate court level ...

WITHOUT A LAWYER, Roger Murdock ...

And Plante beat Capital District "DREAM TEAM" lawyer Donnie Boyajian ...

WITHOUT A LAWYER ...

So it is PURE CRAP, Roger Murdock, that Plante was at best a 2d-year law student going up against lawyers better than he at the law ....

It finally took an Eliot Spitzer to beat Plante, Roger Murdock ...

And that was not because Spitzer was better at the law ....

That's a crock, Roger Murdock, and the proof is in the DOCKET of that case, which is readily available and accessible to a lawyer like yourself through PACER, I believe you call it ....

Eliot Spitzer beat Plante, Roger Murdock, because Eliot Spitzer was able to find a federal judge who would allow Eliot Spitzer to submit false testimony and who would allow Eliot Spitzer to bury evidence of the commission of alleged federal and state crimes in the Plante matter according to Rensselaer County Court Judge Patrick McGrath ...

That was "GOOD LAWYERING" on the part of Spitzer, you attorneys would say ....

But it had nothing to do with knowing the law, Roger Murdock ....

Quite to the contrary, it had to do with Eliot Spitzer knowing how to bend and twist and subvert the law, and how to find a judge who would allow Spitzer to get away with this CRAP ....

And the facts now speak for themselves ....

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | October 9, 2007 6:41 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...d_2.html?page=2

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Elizabeth Benjamin

"Sheldon Silver urges Spitzer to use subpoena law vs. Bruno"

Monday, October 8th 2007, 4:00 AM

It's time to "fight fire with fire."

That's Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's message to his fellow Democrat, Gov. Spitzer, when it comes to dealing with the governor's arch political enemy, and New York's top Republican, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

Silver, who had been trying to broker a peace agreement between the governor and Bruno, seemed to view the Senate majority's issuance of subpoenas last Friday to Spitzer aides in its ongoing probe into the Troopergate mess as crossing the Rubicon.

The speaker yesterday urged the governor to exercise his right to appoint a Moreland commission, which would have subpoena power and the ability to investigate "whatever it is they want to look into."

"I think it's appropriate to do the same thing [the Senate Republicans] are doing, which is basically to do a fishing expedition," Silver said.

"It's tit for tat."

The Moreland Act dates to 1907 and gives the governor sweeping powers to investigate state departments and institutions.

Spitzer's predecessors have used Moreland commissions to probe everything from local and state government corruption to the nursing home industry to alcoholic beverage control.

A Moreland commission can issue subpoenas for both witnesses and documents and compel testimony under oath - just like a legislative committee.

If Spitzer appointed a commission and issued subpoenas to legislators, he would likely receive the same response his administration gave the Senate majority last week when it dropped blanket subpoenas - we'll see you in court.

"There's a real separation of powers issue here," said one Senate Republican.

"There's no justification and probably no legal basis."

That's the same argument Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson made when she announced the governor intends to fight the Senate GOP's subpoenas - a battle that will cost taxpayers, since Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is sure to recuse himself.

A protracted legal battle could help Spitzer in the long run, although it would likely be a public relations nightmare in the short term.

The best way for the governor to weather Troopergate is to try and run out the clock by delaying the Senate's subpoenas and hoping Bruno, whose outside business interests are being investigated by the FBI, is either indicted or loses control of the Senate next fall.

"Spitzer has an implacable foe, and the only way to get rid of an implacable foe is to live past him," said Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf.

"Either you kill him politically, or you outlive him."

" There are no other options."

A top Democrat called the possibility of a Moreland commission "the ultimate in brinksmanship" and said Spitzer has been threatening this behind the scenes for weeks - even before the Troopergate scandal erupted in July - in an effort to "keep Bruno in check."

"This is classic Eliot," the Democrat said.

"Where does he come from?"

"The attorney general's office."

"What is he most comfortable with?"

"Subpoena power."

"This will put him back in his comfort zone."

The last governor to use his Moreland powers was former Republican Gov. George Pataki, during his final months in office in 2006.

Pataki appointed ex-federal prosecutor David Kelley to investigate whether there were sufficient legal grounds to oust then-state Controller Alan Hevesi for using state aides to chauffeur his wife.

Kelley determined there was a "valid legal basis" for removing Hevesi, who was also the subject of an investigation by Albany County District Attorney David Soares.

In a deal with Soares, Hevesi avoided jail time by pleading guilty to a felony charge and resigned.

Former Gov. Mario Cuomo also used the Moreland Act to appoint the Commission on Government Integrity - known as the Feerick Commission.

That commission, revamped last month through a merger of the state Lobbying and Ethics commissions, is conducting its own Troopergate investigation and has begun to interview aides to the governor.

A source familiar with the commission's proceedings confirmed Spitzer's top aide, Richard Baum, was interviewed at length last week.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/08...use_subp-3.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK POST

"DIRTY-TRICKS PROBE PANEL DOESN'T GIVE A WRIT"

October 8, 2007 -- THE state Public Integrity Commission, which pledged to conduct a thorough probe of the dirty-tricks scandal involving aides to Gov. Spitzer, has failed to use its power to subpoena records from the governor's office, The Post has learned.

The failure, called "shocking" by a spokesman for the Republican-controlled Senate, comes in the wake of the refusal of both state Inspector General Kristine Hamann, a Spitzer appointee, and Albany District Attorney David Soares, a Spitzer political ally, to subpoena documents as part of their probes of the plot by aides to the governor to use the State Police to discredit Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer).

The Spitzer-controlled commission's failure to subpoena documents - confirmed to The Post by an aide to the governor - has convinced some of the commission's own staffers that Spitzer has exercised "improper influence" over the panel and its predecessor, the state Ethics Commission, sources said.

The absence of subpoenas from the new commission is being cited by Senate Republicans to justify two subpoenas they issued Friday for records possessed by Spitzer and his aides.

"There hasn't been a single subpoena issued until now by anyone until we took our action," Bruno told The Post.

"We gave every agency an opportunity to get all the information, and that hasn't happened."

"The governor claimed that he had nothing to hide, that he wanted to tell the truth under oath."

"Instead, we get a cover-up, a Nixon-style cover-up."

The Public Integrity Commission is headed by former Fordham Law School Dean John Feerick, a Spitzer appointee who was described as "disengaged" by some close to the commission.

fredric.dicker@nypost.com

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10082007/news/...panel_doesn.htm

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK SUN

"Self-Inflicted Wounds"

By JACOB GERSHMAN

October 8, 2007

Stacked up against political scandals throughout history, so-called Troopergate is a drowsy affair.

As far as we know, it's a controversy devoid of sex, bribery, blackmail, and theft.

The best one-sentence encapsulation of the governor's alleged misdeed ran in this week's Village Voice cover article by Wayne Barrett, who put it this way:

"Eliot Spitzer tried to plant a story about Senate Republican leader Joe Bruno's state-subsidized travel."

That's not quite enough drama for a TV movie, unless NY1 decides to produce an original miniseries starring Kevin Spacey and Peter O'Toole.

What's extraordinary is the damage the story has inflicted on the governor.

It wiped out what had been Mr. Spitzer's standout political strength: his reputation for integrity.

He was the Hebrew National hotdog of politicians, and now, deservedly or not, he's just like any street-corner, mystery meat Frankfurter.

Troopergate has fundamentally altered the Spitzer biography, erecting a wall between his tenure as attorney general and as governor.

Tellingly, Wikipedia's "Eliot Spitzer" entry devotes more words about the state police controversy than it does about Mr. Spitzer's work as the "Sheriff of Wall Street."

The tragedy for the governor is that his wounds are mostly self-inflicted.

The consequences for Mr. Spitzer have been disproportionate because his administration has behaved as if it were guilty.

The governor has shifted his story, while his aides have resisted efforts by investigators to obtain relevant e-mails and other documents.

So now, what ought to have been a story about the administration going a little overboard in exposing Senator Joseph Bruno's expensive travel habits has become a referendum on the governor's honesty.

(In his spare time, Mr. Spitzer has awakened the Republican base in New York by awarding driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.)

Now, Mr. Spitzer is vowing to challenge subpoenas that Senate Republicans issued last week to his chief of staff, Richard Baum, requiring that the administration turn over internal documents related to "Troopergate."

The governor's office called the subpoenas a "dangerous and irresponsible attack on our tripartite system of government" and a "partisan political fishing expedition."

He's right of course.

Senate Republicans are trying to embarrass and hurt Mr. Spitzer.

Unfortunately for Mr. Spitzer, the state court that eventually hears this case isn't likely to be concerned with motive.

The most important question is whether or not the material sought by Senate Republicans bears a reasonable relation to proposed legislation.

Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky easily cleared that legal hurdle in 2004 when a state judge ordered the Pataki administration to turn over hundreds of pages of internal memos related to the Thruway Authority's sale of development rights of the Erie Canal to a single, politically-connected developer.

Mr. Brodsky, a Democrat, may have had his own motives, but his subpoena was clearly related to his proposed legislation to overhaul state authorities.

"Legislative subpoenas are enormously important, indeed essential to the operation of a democracy."

"The Legislature must be able to get information about matters that pertain to the making of laws," Mr. Brodsky said in an interview.

"But their subpoena power is not intended to be a law enforcement investigation tool."

Asked if Republicans sufficiently demonstrated a connection between their subpoenas and draft legislation concerning New York's Freedom of Information laws and the independence of the state police, Mr. Brodsky said:

"They have done that adequately, not brilliantly."

That's not exactly the message Mr. Spitzer wants to hear right now, especially from a well-respected Democratic lawmaker.

Mr. Spitzer, however, may have more immediate concerns than swatting away subpoenas.

His communications director, Darren Dopp, has agreed to testify before a Senate investigative committee at the end of the month.

Mr. Dopp's lawyer has said his client would answer questions posed by the Republican panel fully and openly.

Judging by the report released last month by Albany County's district attorney, David Soares, we have a sense of Mr. Dopp's defense.

Not under oath, he denied that he concocted a negative story about Mr. Bruno, insisting that he started digging into Mr. Bruno's trips to New York City in anticipation of a request for records from a Times Union reporter who had already written several articles about the usage of state aircraft.

Mr. Dopp said he urged the Spitzer administration to refer the travel records to an investigative body because he thought Mr. Bruno might have abused his aircraft privileges.

Mr. Dopp pressed the issue against the advice of Mr. Spitzer, Mr. Baum, and the governor's counsel, David Nocenti, each of whom had concluded that Mr. Bruno was probably innocent, according to the Soares report.

The looming question is whether Mr. Dopp will stick to the "lone gunman" theory when he testifies.

Will he, under oath, tell the Senate committee that he acted unilaterally and orchestrated the recreation and gathering of itineraries from the police without the go-ahead from the governor or his top aides?

Senate Republicans like to say Mr. Spitzer has thrown Mr. Dopp "under the bus" by pinning all the blame on a press aide who didn't follow orders.

Later this month, we'll find out if Mr. Dopp intends to drag his boss beneath the wheels.

http://www.nysun.com/article/64133?page_no=1

[Livyjr]

"State Police captain sues for old job - Former BCI supervisor Frank Pace was reassigned after being suspected of leaking Sweeney report"

By BRENDAN J. LYONS, Senior writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, October 10, 2007

ALBANY -- A State Police captain is suing to get his investigator job back, claiming he was demoted after being suspected of leaking a domestic incident report to the media last year involving former Rep. John Sweeney.

Capt. Frank Pace, who headed the region's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, was reassigned to a uniformed post last November, less than two weeks after an internal report about a domestic incident at the congressman's home became public].

State Police internal affairs launched an investigation into whether the document was leaked by Pace, who was based in Loudonville.

The investigation dragged on for months before concluding the allegations were "unsubstantiated," according to the lawsuit.

An attorney for the State Police union contends the investigation should have determined the allegations were "unfounded," which is akin to being exonerated.

The union filed a claim on Pace's behalf in state Supreme Court in Albany two weeks ago.

Richard Mulvaney, general counsel for the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, said Pace also should have been reinstated to his prior post.

Mulvaney said questions remain about why State Police did not investigate whether any of the agency's leaders created an alternate police report which removed details about the couple's 911 call.

State Police labor leaders have called for an independent investigation into Pace's demotion.

The PBA also said an outside investigation should have been conducted into whether laws or policies were violated when the law enforcement agency created an alternate, sanitized version of the 911 report to protect the congressman's privacy during an election year.

State Police conceded they took steps to "secure the document and limit general access to it."

But they have not said whether those steps included creating a version of the police report in which the incident type was changed from a "domestic dispute" to "aid-assist citizen."

In the wake of the scandal last year, Pace received a letter from then-Deputy Superintendent Preston Felton informing him he was being transferred from his prestigious position supervising 80 investigators to a captain's post in a remote area of Fulton County.

The move came at the direction of former Superintendent Wayne Bennett, said union officials.

State Police officials have declined comment on the matter.

Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, lost to Democratic challenger Kirsten Gillibrand and was dogged in the campaign's final days by the disclosure of his wife's 911 call.

Brendan J. Lyons can be reached at 454-5547 or by e-mail at blyons@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Lawmakers debate driver's license plan"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The issue of whether county clerks should be required to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants was a hot topic of debate in the Rensselaer and Schenectady county legislatures Tuesday night.

Positions were taken largely along party lines.

Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola won the support of the County Legislature's Republicans to refuse to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, but the six Democrats chose not to cast their votes to back him.

"We will never issue a driver's license to anyone who can't prove to me they're here legally," Merola told the legislators, repeating the message he has sent since Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced his intentions to order just that.

The 10 to 6 vote, with one abstention, found the Republican majority backing Merola, also a Republican.

Republican Legislator Kenneth Herrington abstained.

The Democrats backed Spitzer, a Democrat.

"He is obligated to follow the policy if we have a DMV here," said Legislator Kevin Harrington, a Democrat.

"It's irresponsible for our legislative body to uphold someone breaking the law," added Legislator Flora Fasoldt.

In Schenectady, legislators Vincent DiCerbo and Robert Farley sparred over the controversial proposal.

The heated exchange between the Democrat and Republican was symbolic of the sharp emotions the law has stirred among forces for and against the measure.

The controversial issue and legislation proposed by Republican Carolina Lazzari to prevent it from being carried out in Schenectady County were not on the agenda.

The matter angered lawmakers and some members of the public.

Farley, the Republican Minority Leader, argued that granting licenses to illegal immigrants would undermine safety and diminish the validity of what he called "the baseline identification document in the U.S."

DiCerbo suggested getting a court injunction instead of putting the onus on county clerks.

The matter may come up in discussion sometime next month.

-- Kenneth C. Crowe II, Paul Nelson

[Livyjr]

"Senate pulls reins on Spitzer's NYRA plan"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:03 p.m., Wednesday, October 10, 2007

ALBANY -- State senators struck back Wednesday at Gov. Eliot Spitzer's proposal to allow the New York Racing Association to continue running the Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga thoroughbred tracks.

"Why should we continue with you folks?" Broome County Republican Sen. Thomas Libous asked NYRA officials during a Senate racing committee hearing.

"We have an obligation to the taxpayers."

He noted that NYRA's tentative agreement with Spitzer would require the state to pay $250 million to settle debts amassed by the long troubled racing operator.

The payment would be on top of state bailouts to meet payroll and other expenses so that NYRA could operate until its current franchise expires Dec. 31.

In exchange, NYRA would give up its disputed claim to ownership of the race tracks valued at over $1 billion.

NYRA says it must be awarded the franchise again because a legal fight over the tracks would prevent racing until the case is resolved -- threatening the jobs and investments of tens of thousands of New Yorkers.

"You keep saying, 'Hurry up, hurry up,'" Libous told the NYRA officials.

"But based on past performance, we shouldn't hurry up."

As the Senate appeared to reopen the competition for a franchise that could run for 30 years, two of NYRA's challengers were discussing a merger to mount a last-minute push for the lucrative racing deal.

An official for one of the groups in the talks said Wednesday that Capital Play and Empire Racing Associates may join forces.

Capital Play is an Australian racing company that offers more money to the state than any other competitor, including $250 million up front.

Empire included Churchill Downs and the developers of the Mohegan Sun casino.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

However, Churchill Downs announced later Wednesday that it was withdrawing from Empire Racing Associates' bid to operate the New York racing franchise.

Chief executive Robert Evans said the makeup of Empire has "changed significantly" since last year, and the bidding and selection process in New York "is now undefined."

The Capital Play-Empire negotiations to run racing and operate video slot machines at Aqueduct -- and possibly at Belmont -- was first reported by the industry magazine Blood Horse.

Capital Play and Empire wouldn't confirm the talks, but at the Senate hearing Wednesday they paid rare compliments to aspects of each others' proposals, and Empire's Jeffrey Perlee said there is likely to be a late addition to his group.

Also competing is Excelsior Racing Associates, which includes developer Richard Fields and casino developer Steve Wynn.

NYRA contends it has resolved financial problems and accusations of mismanagement that had resulted in a federal indictment.

It says its new management has more experience in New York racing than any of its competitors.

NYRA officials also said their financial problems, including low returns for the state and the racing industry, are part of a decline in horse racing nationwide.

Spitzer has defended his tentative agreement with NYRA, which would have to be approved by the Legislature.

He said allowing the land claim to go to court would be risky and that NYRA is the best and most experienced racing operator.

Under the deal, Spitzer would split the franchise so one group would run racing and another would run video slot machine centers at Aqueduct, with some of the revenue going to the track.

Senators and NYRA's competitors also questioned the feasibility of that plan.

NYRA CEO Charles Hayward insisted he's not threatening to close down racing if the franchise is awarded to someone else.

But the bankruptcy court handling NYRA's case will have a responsibility to creditors and would likely consider the tracks assets that could be used to pay NYRA's debts.

"The bankruptcy could forestall racing," Hayward said.

"That's not a scare tactic ... it's a slippery slope with a bad outcome."

If the Legislature can't agree on a franchise award by Dec. 31, a state law enacted during the Pataki administration calls for racing to continue under a board that has been monitoring NYRA's management for more than a year.

Empire's Perlee also cited a public statement by a previous NYRA official who agreed in 1983 that the tracks would be owned by the state if NYRA received an extension of the franchise back then.

"It puts the lie to NYRA's threat to interrupt racing," Perlee said.

"NYRA is a creation of the state of New York."

"It is not a private company ... the governor and Legislature should no more be intimidated by the threats and bluffs of NYRA than by the Thruway Authority."

"How many times do they expect taxpayers to fall for this?" Perlee asked senators.

NYRA has held the franchise since 1955.

The Senate criticism, led by Republicans, comes as Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno is in a raging political feud with the Democratic governor, stalling progress on any agreements.

[Livyjr]

"Spitzer answers critics of driver's license plan - Governor says policy will make state safer but opposition is fierce"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

First published: Sunday, October 14, 2007

ALBANY -- Few New York policy issues have ignited such swift and fiery opposition and even confounded likely supporters than Gov. Eliot Spitzer's proposal to make it easier for illegal immigrants to get state driver's licenses.

"Spitzer maintains his policy ... will improve (homeland) security," the Watertown Daily Times wrote in one of several editorials on the topic.

"That may be true, but discussion of the policy is being drowned out by the rhetoric on both sides."

It doesn't help that Albany remains neck-deep in political mire that has veteran lawmakers and staffers shaking their heads.

Even New York's Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton have so far avoided the fray, despite the national security concerns.

Spitzer's order, effective in December, will allow immigrants to use a valid foreign passport, confirmed by state officials, to get a license, instead of Social Security numbers that were tied to valid U.S. residency.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the freshman governor answered some of the harshest criticisms.

Spitzer: "The underlying objective here is to make everyone safer."

"This policy will finally generate a driver's license that will be used by people we can actually identify."

"They will have to provide a foreign passport that we can check and validate and instead of having a million people living in the shadows without having any idea who they are."

"We will now know who is driving, which will make the roads safer, save people money on their insurance rates, and begin to address an issue the federal government has totally abdicated, which is how do we deal with our immigrant population ..."

"Every security expert we have spoken to believes this policy makes us safer."

Q: Former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman, a member of the 9/11 Commission, told The Buffalo News that Spitzer's policy is a "perfect formula for al-Qaida."

"They won't be able to resist it ..."

"So New York becomes a sanctuary for al-Qaida and all sorts of other people on the lam."

A: "That's simply not the real world."

"Anybody who comes will have to prove identity with a valid foreign passport."

Q: Peter Gadiel of the 9/11 Families for a Secure America told the New York Post: "Every illegal is a person whose true identity and possible history of violence and terrorism is unknown."

"Thus, any illegal may be a terrorist."

A: "The 9/11 Commission outright rejected the views he has articulated ... the people he's talking about are here."

"We will have a valid, foreign passport for every individual getting a license."

"We will know who they are, know of their criminal record if they have one, and deny them a license if they are not entitled to get one."

"We are going to be way ahead of where we are right now.

(From the 9/11 Commission report: "The federal government should set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification, such as driver's licenses ... At many entry points to vulnerable facilities, including gates for boarding aircraft, sources of identification are the last opportunity to ensure that people are who they say they are and to check whether they are terrorists.")

Q: Republican Sen. Thomas Libous, to the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, countered: "What part of 'illegal' don't people understand?"

A: "This is law and order."

"It is an effort to ensure that when an officer stops a car, the driver's license is a genuine document that gives you the actual identity of the person."

"Alternatively, you can have an environment in which people forge their social security numbers, or drive without a license, or use somebody else's license."

"Those are alternatives."

"The issue of our giving a privilege to those who are not here legally, necessarily, I don't think is the right way to view it."

"These are individuals who are here in our communities, going to our public schools, going to our hospitals, working in our economy."

"And we are all better off making them part of the aboveground economy rather than keeping them beneath the surface where we don't even know they exist."

Q: Why?

Most states don't allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses.

A: "That is true, but there are also other states that do not require proof of residency in order to get a driver's license."

"Seven or eight states have no legal status requirement and so what we're doing is saying, 'We need to know who you are, we're just not asking how you got here' ..."

"Millions of people come in every year on a foreign passport.

"The fact that when you crossed the border you didn't have a visa, you didn't come in properly, that is not the purpose of the driver's license."

"That's the federal government's responsibility, and they have failed for decades to enforce and do their job."

[Livyjr]

"Panel offers 5 for top court - Commission names candidates for judgeship on state Court of Appeals"

Associated Press

First published: Sunday, October 14, 2007

ALBANY -- The state Commission on Judicial Nomination has named five candidates for the Jan. 1 opening on the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, including the judge whose current term is expiring.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer will nominate one person to the seven-member court for a 14-year term, unless the nominee reaches retirement age of 70 before the end of the period.

His choice is subject to Senate confirmation.

Candidates for the $151,200-a-year job are:

Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, associate judge on the Court of Appeals since 1994.

A former state Supreme Court justice in Bronx and New York counties, she would have to retire after 2012.

George F. Carpinello, a partner in the Boies, Schiller & Flexner law firm in Albany.

He attended Princeton University and Yale Law School.

He was admitted to the bar in 1976 and has been director of the Government Law Center at Albany Law School.

Jeremy G. Epstein, a partner in the Shearman & Sterling law firm in New York City, he attended Columbia University and Yale Law School, was law clerk to U.S. District Judge Arnold Bauman and was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York.

Helen E. Freedman, currently a state Supreme Court justice for New York County, Commercial Division, she attended Smith College and New York University Law School.

She is a former Civil Court judge and former associate justice for the Appellate Term.

Steven C. Krane, partner in the Proskauer Rose law firm in New York City, he attended the State University at Stony Brook and New York University Law School.

Former president of the New York Bar Association, who still chairs its Committee on Standards of Attorney Conduct, he was law clerk in 1984-85 to Court of Appeals Judge Judith Kaye, who is now chief judge.

[Livyjr]

"Decades of decay - Vacant and crumbling structures in Albany pose dilemmas for neighbors, officials"

By KATE GURNETT and TIM O'BRIEN, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Sunday, October 14, 2007

Albany -- New York's state capital, hundreds of homes are vacant, crumbling or collapsing, at times leaving unfortunate families homeless.

In June, a Delaware Street house abandoned for 25 years finally had to be demolished, and next-door neighbor Catherine Niles said that work damaged her home's foundation, forcing her and five children onto the street.

In September, the city was forced to tear down five mold-filled houses on Alexander Street.

Stuck in the middle, a sixth house also was destroyed, wrecking the 28-year residence of retirees Rebecca and Richard Lawson.

The Lawsons say they spent years warning the city about the decaying structures, break-ins and rodents.

The city says it has no record of complaints until last month.

Block after block in Arbor Hill, West Hill and the South End are marred by plywood-covered windows, fallen fences and towering weeds.

There are 870 structures on a Vacant Building Registry compiled by the Department of Fire, Emergency & Building Services.

Those who live nearby say their calls go unreturned and their complaints unaddressed as problem structures rot.

"This is the story I hear all the time," said 3rd Ward Alderman Corey Ellis.

"Orange Street, Sheridan Avenue."

"City Hall has to begin to take this seriously."

"These problems didn't happen overnight."

What's lacking is vision, said Common Council President Shawn Morris.

"Right now the mentality is complaint-driven."

"In an old city with a lot of inspection duties, it's hard to keep up."

"And the more vacant buildings, the less engaged a community."

And the owners?

Often, they're speculators.

They pay roughly $225 a year in city taxes on a $5,000 property while waiting for the value to rise.

With scant code fines, there's little incentive to sell.

The city has filed 336 charges -- an average of less than one a week and netting an average fine of $60 -- between 2001 and 2007, said Public Safety Public Information Officer James Miller.

Some buildings, like the long-empty eyesore at Clinton Avenue and Henry Johnson Boulevard, are city-owned.

They sit for years while awaiting redevelopment.

Even the Vacant Building Registry is out of date.

Published in 2006, it requires owners to register and cite plans for vacant structures.

Only 162 are registered.

A 2007 quarterly update erroneously lists 15 properties as county-owned although 14 have been sold, rehabbed or earmarked for larger improvement projects.

City response?

Send reminders to the 790 unregistered.

"It's not to penalize owners," Miller said.

"It's to encourage reinvestment."

That's unlikely.

Mayor Jerry Jennings said he faces absentee landlords and speculators who sit on empty tear-downs, waiting to flip them for a profit.

"I am not happy with the code enforcement and the way it's going," he said.

And the city is trying to keep ahead of the problem, Jennings said.

Albany ranked lowest in vacancy percentage among cities with populations of 50,000, at 10 percent, Miller said, below Schenectady, Syracuse and Rochester.

The Department of General Services boarded up 617 buildings from 2004 to 2007, billing owners $194,000, Miller said.

The Fire Department's 19,314 inspections on occupied buildings in 2006 led to 35,336 violations, as well as 2,206 inspections on vacant structures, he added.

Neighbors of the abandoned structures say their complaints are ignored.

"I call."

"I write."

"I call."

"I write."

"I call, call, call, call, call," said Pansy Robinson, the next-door neighbor who tried to get 118 Third St. demolished for more than a decade.

"I'm so tired of that raggedy house, I don't know what to do."

Last week, Robinson pleaded with Fire Chief Robert Forezzi after officials showed up and met reporters at the dilapidated shack -- owned by the city since 2004.

"It's a crack den inside," Robinson said.

Each day, elementary students from the New Covenant Charter School walk past the broken glass and open side windows, she said.

It appeared the city was in violation of its own vacant buildings law, which requires acceptable window coverings.

This "might be, as they call it, the ghetto," Robinson said.

"But I'm proud to be a part of it."

The next day, the city knocked down 118 and 133 Third St., which had collapsed into a hazardous backyard heap.

By holding onto vacant houses, speculators force hundreds of low-income families to search for remaining housing.

Waiting lists for affordable, subsidized apartments are years long.

Home ownership is now only enjoyed by 38 percent of city dwellers, according to the U.S. Census.

While the state plunks down $5 million to help restore Albany's historic Wellington Row, similar decline is writ small along dozens of city blocks, said Louise McNeilly of the Delaware Avenue Neighborhood Association.

"We've got 800 little Wellingtons," she said.

A question of money

Mayor Jerry Jennings is crafting a vacant buildings plan for release later this month.

Fifty-five blocks in the city contain more than 80 percent of the 870 vacant buildings, he said, and those are the areas he wants to target.

Certainly, there are funds available to combat blight.

But it's not enough, the mayor notes.

The city-owned red-plywood eyesore at 339 Clinton Ave. that greets thousands of commuters at the corner of Henry Johnson Boulevard?

It needs at least $200,000 to rehab, Miller said.

Ditto for 125 Henry Johnson Blvd.

The city's federal block grant allotments for urban renewal have dropped by a third since 2004, to $3.8 million in 2007.

Urban development is a mix of federal, state and private cash, drawn out over several years.

Many projects are in the works, Jennings said.

One $10.6 million, 54-unit duplex development was just completed in Arbor Hill.

Others, for 130 city units costing $32 million, are on tap, Miller said.

But on Orange Street, Ruby Hughes, 73, and her neighbors say they've waited 40 years for new sidewalks while uptown neighborhoods get routine improvements.

Here, weeds, gaps and broken pipes mark stretches of sidewalk.

"We're taxpayers," added Luther Dorsey.

"Why not do all of Orange Street?"

It's benign neglect, 2nd Ward Alderwoman Carolyn McLaughlin said.

"We've been talking about it for eight years."

Enforcement is too scarce, fines too small and buildings need fixing before it's too costly, she said.

Business development shouldn't be the top priority, McLaughlin added.

"Neighborhoods have got to be the priority."

"Otherwise, you have no need for business because you won't have any people for the businesses."

As 19th-century houses rot, cities like Albany lose their uniqueness, said Susan Holland, executive director of the Historic Albany Foundation.

Young professionals can be attracted to live in and restore historic structures, but they aren't apt to buy a vacant Albany lot and put a new house on it, she said.

"These buildings were constructed superbly with old-growth wood ..."

"It certainly gives us an identity."

"There are building styles you don't see in other places."

One easy fix is to stabilize marginal buildings before they fall apart, said McNeilly, of the Delaware Avenue association.

Restored buildings have to be affordable, she adds.

"We need more work force housing and supported housing."

Losing families

When their Alexander Street house was demolished, Rebecca Lawson said, "a part of me went down, too."

Back in 1979, every house on her Alexander Street block was occupied by a family, she recalled.

She and her husband hosted barbecues, raised children and grandchildren.

Neighbors swept their sidewalks.

Then old people died and young people left.

Out-of-towners began to buy, her son, Richard Lawson Jr., said.

"They throw a mailbox up and you don't see 'em no more."

By 1997, vacant buildings had the Lawsons surrounded.

Their annual homeowner insurance soared to nearly $1,000.

One day, water began to pour into their light fixtures from the vacant house next door, owned by a New Jersey woman.

"It was like a mini-Niagara Falls," Rebecca Lawson said.

"And all our stuff is gone."

These days the Lawsons pay a mortgage on a nonexistent house while staying rent-free in a city-owned subsidized apartment.

They are using space sought by dozens of other needy families, and hoping for a solution.

"The only thing I would like is for us to be made whole again," Rebecca Lawson said.

"I'd like our home to be put back."

Like others, she said, she lost a precious slice of her city.

It's a slice she'd still like to restore.

Now, because a real live family -- the Lawsons -- has been affected, there are a number of groups forming to take action, Alderwoman McLaughlin said.

"Our legislators at every level, from federal to state to county, have an obligation to fix this."

Kate Gurnett can be reached at 454-5490 or by e-mail at kgurnett@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Assembly GOP exploring possibility of recall - A measure allowing the removal of a sitting governor would likely require a change in the constitution"

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, October 13, 2007

ALBANY -- In what may be the Republicans' most aggressive action so far in their increasingly bitter struggle with Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer, lawyers for Assembly Republican Minority Leader James Tedisco are researching a proposal to create a way of allowing voters to unseat a sitting governor.

Such a recall mechanism would probably have to come through a constitutional amendment, which would entail approval by two consecutive legislatures and by voters.

And while it's highly unlikely the Democratic-dominated Assembly would pass the plan, the fact that Republicans are looking at it underscores how hard they are going after Spitzer.

"We're researching the possibility of a recall, similar to what California has," said Bill Sherman, Tedisco's chief of staff.

His remarks came a day after Tedisco tore into the governor during one of several press conferences during the past few weeks to decry the governor's policy that would allow illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses.

That plan comes with what the administration has said is tighter scrutiny of license applicants, but it has nonetheless drawn heavy protest from mostly Republican county clerks as well as Republicans in the Legislature.

"This is not only about illegal aliens, we think it's about illegal Eliot," said Tedisco, who contends the change should have been debated in the Legislature rather than imposed by executive order.

Spitzer's office had not seen the Republican plan and had no comment.

A prominent Democratic senator, Eric Schneiderman of Manhattan, dubbed the recall idea "absurd."

New Yorkers have voted on some 75 constitutional amendments over the last 40 years with about two-thirds passing, said Robert Ward, deputy director of the SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government.

The vast majority of those amendments, though, concerned relatively minor or narrow issues, such as helping rebuild municipal water systems.

The last major constitutional change, Ward said, was in 1977 when voters eliminated elections for Court of Appeals judges, giving the governor appointment power.

Even though it's a long shot in New York, talk of a recall is at least likely to get the attention of the Spitzer camp when one considers what happened in California in 2003 -- when Democratic Gov. Gray Davis was recalled following a number of controversial moves including his plan to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Rick Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK POST

"EX-DMV BOSS RIPS SPITZ LICENSE PLAN"

By KENNETH LOVETT, Post Correspondent

October 15, 2007 -- ALBANY - A former state motor vehicles commissioner yesterday labeled Gov. Spitzer's plan to allow illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses a "complete surrender" of security measures enacted after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Raymond Martinez, who served as former Gov. George Pataki's DMV commissioner from 2000 to 2005, told The Post that Spitzer is being disingenuous when he says the plan will actually improve security and roadway safety.

"People say this is a retreat from those security measures we enacted," Martinez said.

"I would disagree."

"It's a complete surrender that I believe makes New York and the United States less secure."

Martinez is set to testify today at a state Senate public hearing on Spitzer's plan to no longer require applicants for driver's licenses to provide Social Security numbers or letters showing that they are not eligible for such numbers.

He charged that Spitzer was more interested in providing a "gift" to pro-immigrant groups and lawmakers.

"It's political pandering in the extreme," said Martinez, who now serves as deputy chief of protocol for the United States at the U.S. State Department.

"Anyone who says this is based on sound security, public safety or road safety, it's a canard."

"It's simply not true," Martinez said.

"If it were true, there would be a large segment of the law-enforcement community coming forward supporting it," he added.

Spitzer spokeswoman Jennifer Givner called Martinez's comments "laughable," saying eight states have similar practices.

"Security experts from around the country support New York's policy change because it is being implemented with state-of-the-art anti-fraud and security measures to make it one of the most secure licenses in the nation," Givner said.

Also appearing at today's Senate hearing will be Spitzer's current DMV Commissioner, David Swarts, who is charged with enacting the controversial new plan, as well as several county clerks who run local DMV offices and say they will not comply with the state order.

Martinez said he will focus on the policies the Pataki administration put in place.

One such policy was to enact a temporary visiting program in which those legally in the country for a set period would have the word "temporary" stamped on their license with the date their stay is set to end.

The Spitzer administration recently ended that policy, a move criticized yesterday by Martinez and Assembly Republican Minority Leader James Tedisco.

Tedisco called Spitzer's elimination of the policy a "critical mistake that will make New York's roadways less safe."

Spitzer aides said the "temporary" label was "meaningless" since the licenses themselves were valid for eight years regardless of how long someone was allowed to be in the country, and also because of the governor's position that driver's licenses are not intended as documents to prove legal status.

kenneth.lovett@nypost.com

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

I just read the article "Spitzer answers critics of driver's license plan - Governor says policy will make state safer but opposition is fierce" by MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press, first published Sunday, October 14, 2007, wherein "BULLDAWG" Spitzer actually answered questions put to him by the AP concerning his plan to hand out valid NYS driver's licenses to people from other countries here illegally ....

And I have to say that it is one of the most convoluted "arguments" in favor of something that I have ever heard coming from out the mouth of a politician anywhere here in America ....

His answers actually make "BULLDAWG" Spitzer seem even more clueless than he has been since DAY ONE ...

The "BULLDAWG" has lived for far too many years locked away in an IVORY TOWER down here in Manhattan, is my thought right now, after reading that article ...

He apparently believes that before people come here illegally from other countries, that they stop into their own government first, to get a valid passport ...

I wonder how many illegals that died in the back of that sweltering truck trailer hauled by that Schenectady dude Tyrone Williams had valid Mexican passports with them when they boarded his truck trailer down there in George W. Bush's home state of Texas?

Spitzer talks about a million illegal aliens being here already and working here ...

These are the ones he says he wants to bring "out of the shadows", or in his own words in that article:

"And we are all better off making them part of the aboveground economy rather than keeping them beneath the surface where we don't even know they exist."

end quotes

Which on the face of things is a totally ridiculous assertion, because obviously Spitzer already DOES KNOW that they exist, and he has known of their existence since before he became governor ....

Since one of his campaign pledges to them while he was still state AG was to lobby on their behalf as NYS governor to get them valid NYS driver's licenses ....

And so ....

This Spitzer dude can sure talk out of every side of his mouth all at once ....

Which is what makes him the MASTER POLITICIAN that he is ....

As well as being seen out here in the countryside as a MASTER BAMBOOZLER or a MASTER HORNSWOGGLER ....

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | October 14, 2007 6:55 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...106.html?page=3

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

ITEM: Spitzer sat down for a Q-and-A on his license plan with the AP.

JOHN GALT MUSES: Yes, EL CAUDILLO Spitzer in fact did that, according to published reports by the AP this weekend ...

And one of the things that EL CAUDILLO said in his answer which caught my attention up here in Rensselaer County was as follows:

"This is law and order."

"It is an effort to ensure that when an officer stops a car, the driver's license is a genuine document that gives you the actual identity of the person."

"Alternatively, you can have an environment in which people forge their social security numbers, or drive without a license, or use somebody else's license."

"Those are alternatives."

end quotes

That set of statements caught my attention because up here in Rensselaer County, IF you have the right connections, and IF you have the right amount of money, you can "PROCURE" a BOGUS CERTIFICATE from a politically-connected doctor here in Troy, who is affiliated with a CORPORATION in Troy with a secure psychiatric facility, that will direct the NYSP to apprehend the person of your choice for forced transportation to this secure psychiatric facility for forced incarceration ...

And removal from society at large here in upstate NY ...

And in December of 2005, EL CAUDILLO Eliot "BULLDAWG" Spitzer secured "permission" from the federal 2d Circuit Court of Appeals here in NYC to keep that "RING" intact, after one of its victims attempted to have the operation shut down in federal court as being in violation of the civil rights of an American citizen residing in NYS ...

Soooo ...

Law enforcement is a CHIMERIC thing with this EL CAUDILLO is my thought in here this morning ....

EL CAUDILLO is very concerned with the "rights and privileges" of persons from other countries who are here unlawfully ...

While at the same time, EL CAUDILLO "BULLDAWG" Spitzer has clearly demonstrated to us upstate residents in this case in question, where his office suppressed the sworn eye-witness account of the commission of crimes by an Albany Police Officer, that he does not give a TINKER'S DAMN about the rights of a true American citizen here in NYS ...

And so ...

What are the priorities of Eliot Spitzer?

What truly is his AGENDA?

Who drives that AGENDA, where Spitzer seems to care more for the alleged "rights and privileges" of illegals in this country than he does about the civil rights of American citizens here?

Some thoughts for the day ...

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | October 15, 2007 8:34 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli..._weekend_3.html

[Livyjr]

NEWSDAY

"Public hearing today on Spitzer's license plan"

JAMES T. MADORE AND JOIE TYRRELL

October 14, 2007

The first public hearing by a committee of the State Legislature on Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants is scheduled for tomorrow morning in Albany.

Political observers say the proposed policy does not appear to comply with a proposed federal regulation - called "REAL ID" - that would require Americans to carry standardized driver's licenses.

The licenses, which would include a Social Security number, would be shown to board aircraft or enter federal buildings.

But under Spitzer's policy, immigrants who apply for licenses would need only to produce foreign passports.

They don't have U.S. Social Security numbers.

While the Department of Homeland Security has said that it wanted states to be ready to issue the new Real ID licenses as of next year, the regulations will not apply to the general public until 2013.

Spitzer has said that the state can't make policy decisions based on federal regulations that remain in draft stage.

"New York is going with the realities we have to deal with and we'll wait and see what Real ID requires of us," Spitzer said last month.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/politics...,0,969372.story

[Livyjr]

BUFFALO NEWS /WGRZ POLL

"As Spitzer arrives, Democrats cringe"

By Robert J. McCarthy NEWS POLITICAL REPORTER

Updated: 10/14/07 8:03 AM

Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer comes to town today to campaign for county executive hopeful James P. Keane, the kind of appearance that normally attracts a lot of smiling Democrats.

But Spitzer’s plan to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants is giving local Democrats a case of the political cringes, right at the height of campaign season.

Now, with a new Buffalo News/WGRZ-TV Channel 2 poll showing Erie County voters opposed to the idea by a whopping 72 to 22 percent, Democrats are finding it more difficult to stand behind their titular leader.

“It is hard to project how this would have a huge positive impact for Keane,” said John Zogby of Utica, whose Zogby International conducted the poll.

Few Democrats will publicly criticize the governor, but many here and elsewhere in the state are questioning whether Spitzer has turned into a liability during this campaign season.

“The nervousness among local party chairs is palpable,” said one statewide Democratic activist who is following the situation.

“He started a fight right in the middle of the local campaign season that nobody was prepared for.”

A Democratic consultant said Spitzer never seemed to calculate the damage that the license order is wreaking among candidates, especially upstate.

“Could the timing on this issue be any worse for upstate Democrats?” he asked.

Zogby, who for two days last week surveyed 400 Erie County residents who are likely to vote, said he finds the order “a loser everywhere” throughout the state.

He noted that grass-roots candidates such as those running for county clerk know their politics and that most of them have turned against it.

‘Can’t understand’

Democratic candidates such as Keane and County Clerk Kathleen C. Hochul oppose Spitzer on the license order.

Hochul finds herself on an especially hot seat, given that she hosted a campaign event for Spitzer at her Hamburg home last year and subsequently was appointed by him to the vacant position of county clerk.

She has tried to distance herself from Spitzer and last week asked the County Legislature to pass a resolution requesting that the governor rescind his order or allow county clerks to disregard it.

And the recent licensing controversy isn’t the only issue nagging the governor’s popularity in his first year in office.

A Zogby poll for The News and Channel 2 conducted in late September showed that 62 percent of county residents were confident that Spitzer can fulfill his campaign promises as opposed to 35 percent who are not.

But 25 percent said they are less inclined to vote for him after it was disclosed that his staff improperly used the State Police to obtain information against Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.

The poll showed that 11 percent were more inclined, while 64 percent said that it would have no effect or that they were unsure.

While the governor remains popular, Zogby said, Spitzer needs to recognize that his constituents are restless, and this is affecting Democrats associated with him.

He calls Hochul’s position “political and laughable,” noting that she abstained when county clerks in a special session voted last week to criticize the governor for his new policy.

And from the standpoint of a political strategist, Domagalski says, he doesn’t get it — and, he says, neither does the governor.

“For the life of me, I can’t understand what he’s doing,” Domagalski said.

Conservative factor

The position that minor parties hold in New York politics enters the equation, too.

Democratic candidates such as Keane and Hochul are also running on the Conservative line, and the minor party’s outspoken position against the Spitzer order is forcing them to pay attention.

“[Spitzer] made a decision to appeal to the hard left and the moveon.org people to solidify his base,” state Conservative Chairman Michael R. Long said.

“But he’s really just awakened a sleeping giant."

Republican candidate William A. O’Loughlin has vowed not to enforce the Spitzer directive if he’s elected, while Hochul says she took an oath to uphold the law.

“Yeah, it’s complicated my life,” Hochul said, “but I rise to the challenge.”

Erie County Democratic Chairman Leonard R. Lenihan acknowledges that the governor’s order is “causing problems.”

That’s because the issue is easily exploited, he said, and the Republicans are doing that — especially in the campaign for clerk.

“There is no doubt it’s a flash point, but I think Kathy is handling it well,” Lenihan said.

Lenihan’s Republican counterpart, James P. Domagalski, has pounced all over the issue.

"Spitzer shows his arrogance the way he’s ramming it down people’s throats and risking their safety.”

The governor’s stand affects countless Democrats, mostly upstate, who have traditionally counted on Conservative support to counter Republicans who criticize their coziness with Manhattan liberals.

Now Long warns that the Democrat-Conservatives should heed the party’s opposition to what has become a hot-button issue.

“It could certainly take away from them having the Conservative Party endorsement,” Long said.

“You can’t be for law and order and then say you’re for allowing the governor of the State of New York to give illegal immigrants a driver’s license.”

rmccarthy@buffnews.com

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/buff...ory/183882.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK SUN

"Reading Eliot's Mind"

By JACOB GERSHMAN

October 15, 2007

Obviously, things haven't worked out precisely as I had planned.

I was once Wall Street's top cop, the "enforcer," the "crusader of the year."

Now, I'm taking orders from Sheldon Silver.

My most powerful political ally is an obscure comptroller.

And I'm insulted on a daily basis by a discredited, retired boxer named Joe Bruno.

My friends ask me, "how did things get so out of control?"

The better question is, "how could I have avoided this?"

I won 69% of the vote because I am not Rip Van Pataki, who served out his 12 years by taking the path of mediocrity and unimaginative compromise.

My mandate wasn't to get along with people.

Manifested in the millions of votes cast last November was a real thirst for reform.

I was elected because, unlike other politicians, I simply don't care if every lawmaker and lobbyist in Albany thinks I'm a jerk.

I was elected to effectuate change upon a sclerotic capital, to stand up to those interests who do not like to be stood up to.

As Teddy Roosevelt said: "It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage that we move on to better things."

My advisers urged me to delay my plans to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

It's political suicide, they said.

It's just the issue Republicans need to rouse their base, they said.

Others argued that I should have at least held public hearings to discuss the issue.

I argue that it's a false dichotomy to suggest that politicians must choose between political expediency and defeat.

If the county clerks don't implement the new policy, I will sue every one of them because it's the right thing to do.

I don't need allies because I have the people on my side.

New Yorkers yearn for a new culture in state politics.

They yearn for on-time budgets.

They yearn for a reconstituted New York Racing Association.

They yearn for campaign finance restrictions on limited liability companies.

They yearn for tighter lobbying laws.

Now, I'm supposed to call off this war on Joe.

I brought Wall Street to its knees, and now I'm supposed to take a beating from a smooth-talking salesman from Rensselaer who probably doesn't know how to spell subpoena.

Albany mocks me as a "steamroller," while the majority leader swaggers around as "Gentleman Joe," the king of pork-barrel politics.

He spends hundreds of thousands of public dollars jetting around to political fund-raisers, like some kind of emperor.

But I'm a "dirty trickster" because I tried to do what's right by stopping his outrageous actions.

I never should have apologized for anything.

I never should have abandoned Darren Dopp, who stood loyally behind me for more than eight years.

I should have rejected the Cuomo report as a slap dash, political hit job manufactured by a man who determined to do me what his father did to Hugh Carey.

Perhaps, having the Senate Democrats ask the IRS to investigate Joe wasn't the wisest move.

I wanted to teach him a lesson that he cannot repeatedly attack me without facing consequences.

If he is going to play hardball, then I'm going to let the federal government know that he didn't pay all of his taxes on helicopter flights between Albany and New York.

If Joe won't listen to me, then he'll listen to the IRS.

My mistake was to have assumed that Malcolm Smith could handle the assignment without confessing everything to Fred Dicker.

But I'm confident that I got my point across.

New Yorkers didn't elect me to allow Joe to get away with tax evasion.

Joe seeks to destroy me because I refused to play his game: We go into a room, I give him what he wants, he gives me what I want, and we're all happy.

My job was to say "enough," whether it was demanding an end to an inequitable education funding formula or refusing to coddle a health care union that had been spoiled by the Pataki administration.

I concluded early on that I would never succeed in pursuing my agenda as long as Joe and Republicans stood in the way.

This breakdown in civil discourse is regrettable, but a conflict was unavoidable.

I simply did not have the patience to wait for the Republicans to die a natural death.

There's nothing left for me to do but to tough it out until 2008.

While, I've gambled everything on that election, I'm confident that Malcolm and the Democrats will finally take over the Senate.

Because when voters see the gridlock of the first two years of my administration, they won't hold me responsible.

They will put the blame squarely on Joe, the man who didn't pay all of his taxes.

jacob@nysun.com

http://www.nysun.com/article/64573?page_no=1